1 Corinthians 15:3-4  “…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures”
The gospel in a nutshell.

5  “…then by the twelve”
Obviously there were only eleven apostles at that point.  Paul used the general name of the group which had been closest to Jesus during His time on earth.

6  “…He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present…”
Many who discount the resurrection, stipulate that His followers stole Jesus’s body.  If they were the only ones to see Him alive, it could easily be explained away as just lies told by them to keep the movement alive.  But He was seen by many more people, some of whom were still alive when Paul wrote this epistle.  We don’t discount other events of history that had as many witnesses as Christ’s resurrection.

8  “…as by one born out of due time”
Some have suggested that Paul was to have been the replacement for Judas as part of the original twelve.  This verse could be used to support that.  Obviously God chose an unusual way of converting Paul by appearing to him in person.  And He certainly called Paul to a tremendous ministry of spreading the gospel.  I don’t think it was an either/or situation.  I think the other apostles were okay when they selected Matthias, as God apparently had a hand in that decision.  I think God had His plan for providing Paul at the appropriate time, so it was all woven together as He wanted.

12-19  I’ve run into similar instances before, people supposedly in the Christian ministry who refuse to believe in Christ’s virgin birth, or His bodily resurrection, or the scripture as written being the totally true, exclusive word of God.  My biggest question to them is, why are you doing what you’re doing since you tear apart the foundation of the very thing you say you believe and proclaim.  It makes no sense whatsoever.  Some at Corinth apparently thought the same way.  They were part of the church, but were preaching that Christ wasn’t resurrected.  Kind of defeats the purpose.

24  “…He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power”
Mankind’s rule, authority, and power.  Then Christ’s will be the only one left.

26  “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”
Apparently after the Millennial Reign of Christ.  Odd that Christ will allow His enemies to form and rebel near the end of His earthly reign before He destroys them all once and for all.  But He has His reasons, and I’m sure they’ll make sense once we get there.

28  “…the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all”
Appears to show inequality between God and Christ, but we know they are one.  Probably more of place for our benefit.  Theology of the Trinity.  One of the things we can know and can accept even though we don’t fully understand.

29  “…if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?”
Weird few verses.  Commentary had a couple of suggestions.  I see Paul making an argument for the resurrection using the practice of baptism.  Baptism is the associating of ourselves with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.  If there is no resurrection, why baptize?  Why baptize for the dead?  Why would you go through a practice showing resurrection if death was all there was at the end?  And why would Paul put himself in jeopardy by preaching the gospel?  As he says, you might as well eat, drink, and be merry.

36  “…what you sow is not made alive unless it dies”
Have heard a lot of preachers speak of seeds dying to allow the plant to live.  But I’ve never agreed completely with that analogy.  I know Paul says what you sow dies, but I think he was using that to mean change, done away with, or passed away.  The new plant won’t come about unless the seed splits and allows it to grow out.  So we will do the same thing.  Our fleshly, sin infected bodies will die and/or be changed into their new configuration without the burden of a sin nature.  The current form must give way to the new form.

41  “…for one star differs from another star in glory”
Not sure what he is referring to here exactly.  The glory of the sun, moon, and stars is different from each other, but what of star and star?  They all have light, though each is different, but what makes the stars different?  May be speaking just of some stars being brighter than others.  Interesting tidbit to learn someday.

49  “…as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man“
Praise the Lord!  We shall someday exchange the fallen state of this body to the renewed state of Christ’s body.  As it was meant to be from the beginning.

51  “…We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed”
Those who are still alive when Christ returns for His bride.  For those still alive, the change will be the same as that of death, so the Bible is true when it says all are appointed once to die and then the judgment.

58  “…your labor is not in vain”
There is a hereafter.  Our reward is coming.  It may seem like all we do doesn’t matter, but someday we will reap the fruit of it.  We mustn’t give up.

I hope you enjoy reading and studying His word.  May it accomplish what He desires.  Please feel free to comment or post questions.  Thanks for reading!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.